EASTERN OREGON
MINING ASSOCIATION
MARCH 2013 Newsletter
Volume 282
EASTERN OREGON MINING ASSOCIATION ELECTION MEETING THIS MONTH
The meetings are held on the first Friday of the month. The next meeting is Friday, MARCH 1st at the Baker City Hall. The building is located at 1st and Auburn Streets in Baker City. The Board meeting starts at 6:00PM, and the general meeting starts at 6:30PM. Election of your Board members and Officers will be held at this meeting.
IF YOU HAVE NOT RENEWED YOUR EOMA DUES
THIS WILL BE YOUR LAST NEWSLETTER!
Membership and bond payments must be clearly identified in order for us to give you proper credit for paying. The information you need is on the last page of this newsletter.
Please send in your dues, bond, medallion and calendar payments in separate checks. It really makes a bookkeeping nightmare when you don’t…..Bobbie and Chuck Thank you.
MSHA NEW MINER TRAINING-THURSDAY & FRIDAY MARCH 7-8-by Jan Alexander
Employment opportunities in the mining industry are all around us in Northeast Oregon. It you plan to apply for work at a mine this year, this training is essential. Even if you are a small scale miner, the training is still very useful. Space is limited, so sign up now for this two day training, by calling Jan at 541-446-3413. Ed Sinner will give the training. It will be held at the Extension Building, 2600 East Street (turn North off of Campbell Street, just east of the new Armory Building) starting at 8:00AM each day. The cost is $10/person for each day of training.
MSHA ANNUAL REFRESHER TRAINING-SATURDAY MARCH 9-by Jan Alexander
Space is limited for this training also. MSHA is requiring Ed to keep class size at about 30 miners. Sign up by calling Jan at 541-446-3413. The training will be held at the Extension Building, 2600 East Street starting at 8:00AM each day. The cost is $10/person for the training.
There will be another Annual Refresher in April. The date will be announced in the next newsletter.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE - by Ken Alexander
During this past couple of months, there has been a lot of activity involving letters, phone calls, e-mails, and conversations with State Senators and Representatives. This is very frustrating to many of us when we would rather be working on the latest design of equipment to capture a valuable mineral, or researching areas to prospect when it warms up. However, the radical environmental organizations are determined to put an end to mining through the Oregon legislature. We all have to step up to the plate and do what we can to educate and inform the decision makers in Salem about placer mining. There have been an amazing number of anti-mining bills introduced. If these Bills are passed they have the potential to cause a lot of trouble down the road. We have a few hard-working people who are doing their best to educate the legislators, but we all need to be vigilant, and do what we can to help. It is going to be very important that you know how to send an e-mail to legislators, since things will happen fast when these Bills start showing up in committees. We also need you to be as generous as you can with financial support. In other words, if these bills move forward, we will have to show the legislators that “we have only just begun to fight”.
MINERS RALLY AT THE OREGON STATE CAPITOL-by Chuck Chase
Miners from all over Oregon, Washington and California are converging on Salem, Oregon February 28th 1:00-4:00 PM. Miners will assemble on the steps of the State Capitol to protest Senate and House bills that would shut down mining in Oregon. This rally started off as a small protest among local miners in the immediate area, and turned into a huge rally and is growing each day. There is a charter bus coming out of Southwest Oregon that was paid for by Armadillo Mining. Miners are car-pooling in from as far away as California, Washington and Idaho to join miners from Oregon to support their right to mine. We will be taking a contingent of miners from the Baker City area to join our brothers in the Salem Capitol and make our voices heard loud and clear “we are a viable part of Oregon’s economy, don’t regulate us out of business”.
LETTERS TO OUR STATE LEGISLATURE-by Chuck Chase
Our members responded to our Action Alert in our last newsletter. You submitted letters in protest to the rash of bills that were designed to stop all mining in Oregon, small and large alike. The three main bills, SB 115 Prohibiting all mechanized mining; SB 370 Letting DSL issue commercial placer mining permits of $125 per year, with fines and prison for not complying, and SB 401 Designating a host of rivers as Scenic Waterways with ¼ mile set back from the high water mark.
Bobbie and I, along with help from Ken and Jan Alexander, and Tork and Wanda Ballard have sent letters to the Oregon State Legislature, targeting each member of both Houses with over 6,000 letters of protest. Another 810 letters went out as of this writing, to our Senators and Representatives in the Oregon State Legislature. We are making a difference; the people that sent the letters in are getting letters back and calls from our Senators and Representatives.
DON’T GIVE UP THE SEARCH From the Alaska Miner
An Australian prospector using a metal detector (a Minelab GPX-5000) has discovered a gold nugget weighing 5.5 kg (12 pounds.) The nugget was found about 2 feet below the ground near the town of Ballarete, in Victoria, Australia. The nugget will go up for auction later this month and is expected to bring at least $320,000.
SB388 AND SB423-TWO MORE BAD BILLS
Senate Bill 388 is joined at the hip with SB401 (scenic waterways). SB388 will take five waterways, turn the management over to the Parks Department and educate the private land owner and the public on how to take care of the waterway segment for recreation. No fences are allowed, even on private land, and of course, there will be no mining!
Senate Bill 423 changes the DOGAMI regulations to require notice and comment, not just from adjoining landowners, but from the entire area surrounding the mine, and also from all sorts of environmental organizations. This will lengthen the time period needed to obtain a permit, but even worse, additional notice and comment periods will apply to the yearly renewal date of the permit. All it would take to shut down an operation is one unscrupulous person with a false accusation. Passage of this bill will increase the time it takes to obtain a permit, will make an ordeal out of yearly permit renewal, and will double the cost to the State as more employees will be needed to handle the additional workload.
Because of SB 423, and the other onerous bills (SB115, 401, 388, 370) generated in the Senate, banks are withdrawing funding from mining operations and companies are looking twice at locating in Oregon. Most of us do not have DOGAMI permits, but the thing to remember is SB423 affects us all. If they can take out big mining, small scale mining is doomed.
If you haven’t written, called or e-mailed Senators Bates, Dingfelder, Hass, Hansell and Olsen (members of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee) about SB388 and SB423, DO IT TODAY.
FOIA ON GRANITE MINING PROJECTS-by Jan Alexander
EOMA filed a Freedom of Information Act inquiry requesting copies of all the summaries of all the proposed operations in the Granite watershed, on both the Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla National Forests. EOMA also asked for maps of the project areas. There were so many problems with the North Fork Burnt River EIS,that EOMA wanted to be sure that what the Forests are analyzing is actually what the miners are proposing to do. EOMA will be contacting each miner with the information we receive, so there will be no surprises when the EIS is published. Miners in the Granite watershed, if you haven’t done so, be sure to contact Chris Helberg of the Forest Service at 541-427-5351 to make sure your operation is in the EIS.
HARD TO BELIEVE WE NEED THIS MANY NEW LAWS
The 77th Legislative Session got off to a fast start on Monday the 4th of February! Since then over 600 bills were introduced in the Senate and 1000 in the House. Nearly 4,000 bills are introduced in an odd-year session and approximately 1,000 become law.
From Senator Bates Newsletter
WAR ON MINING IN OREGON-by Jan Alexander
Many miners have e-mailed, called or written letters to their Legislators opposing SB115 (prohibits motorized placer mining), SB370 (adds another layer of permitting and a fee of $125 for an unnecessary permit from DSL for yet to be determined reasons), and SB401, (adds many waterways, including Eagle Creek and the North Fork Burnt River to the State scenic waterway system). What passage of SB401 would mean for miners on these waterways, is new mining would be prohibited within ¼ mile of the river. Over 50 operators along the North Fork Burnt River have waited 10-16 years for operating plan approval, depending on when they submitted their POOs. These patient operators would be prohibited from mining, even if the Forest Service eventually got the plans approved. If you haven’t written, called or e-mailed Senators Bates, Dingfelder, Hass, Hansell and Olsen (members of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee) about all these onerous bills, DO IT TODAY!
MINERS IN THE HALLS OF THE STATE CAPITOL-by Chuck Chase
At the start of the Oregon State Legislative season it became abundantly clear that mining in Oregon was in deep trouble. The multitude of bills, starting from the Senate side and then from the House, was a death knell for mining in Oregon. The phone lines and the internet have been burning up with what to do solutions. We decided on a letter campaign with an Action Alert, and we considered even hiring a Lobbyist, until the grim reality of the cost of doing this set in.
Fortunately there were miners that were fairly close to the State Capitol that stepped up to the challenge. A real special thanks to Joe Greene, Claudia Wise, and Tom Quintal for the work they have done educating our elected State Senators and State Representatives about mining. They have spent their time and money copying documents supporting mining in Oregon. We are lucky to have people like Joe and Claudia, who are ex EPA scientists, and Tom who was at one time a lobbyist for Oregon Independent Miners. These people have come out of retirement to help make the case for mining in Oregon.
There has been a fund set up to help these people with expenses of copying and mileage back and forth to the Capitol. The EOMA has sent a couple of hundred dollars to help support this very important effort. We are asking our membership to help support these miners who are donating their time and effort and their own money to defend our right to mine in Oregon. There has been a fund set up by the Willamette Valley Miners to defray the costs incurred by these miners. I hope you can see your way clear to support these people with a small contribution to defray their expenses.
Send your donations to: Willamette Valley Miners, Legislature Education Expense Fund, P.O. Box 13044, Salem, OR 97309. Remember, we either fight for our right to mine or it is all over.
WIN 1/2 POUND OF GOLD
The Eastern Oregon Mining Association, along with the Waldo Mining District, has done it again. The first preliminary drawing will be coming up on March 30th. Prizes we have lined up for all of these preliminary drawings, (in addition to the gold that will be the grand prize), will be Keene 4 inch dredge; Whites Metal Detector; 2 Shares to Emily Camp; Louie Build 4 foot Hand Sluice and more coming. There will be drawings at all the gold shows, including Miners Jubilee. So fill out the tickets in the back of the newsletter and send them in to Drawing, PO Box 932, Baker City, OR 97814. Your tickets will be good for each and every drawing up to the final one of the 1/2 pound of gold. Your money goes to help miners continue litigation on miner’s rights. Thank you for all your support..... Chuck Chase
WHEN SHOULD YOU FILE AN NOI ON THE FOREST?-by Jan Alexander
The 36CFR228 regulations are clear that it is the miner who decides if his proposed operation will cause significant surface disturbance. If the miner is sure the work will not cause significant disturbance, such as suction dredging conducted under the terms of a current 700PM dredge permit, or digging a test hole away from any waterway, where there is no tree removal involved, and the work is not done with a “bull dozer”, that miner can go ahead and do his testing. If the Forest Service notices the activity, and disagrees that the surface disturbance is insignificant, the miner would have to stop work.
If a miner can’t decide on the significance of his proposal, or if that miner does think his proposed exploration will cause a significant surface disturbance, a Notice of Intent is necessary under the regulations. The Forest Service will either inform the miner in writing that no Plan of Operation is needed, or the Forest Service will inform the miner that he must submit a Plan of Operation.
Even if the Forest Service tells the miner a Notice of Intent is appropriate, all Notices are subject to a 30 day comment period from the public and a 45 day appeal period if comments come in. In addition, if there are T&E species, such as steelhead, salmon or bull trout, a Biological Assessment of the effects of the operation must be made and USF&WL and/or National Marine Fisheries must concur with the project.
CENTRAL BANKS STILL BUYING GOLD
Worldwide gold demand in 2012 was another record high of $236.4 billion in the World Gold Council’s latest report. This was up 6% in value terms in the fourth quarter to $66.2 billion, the highest fourth quarter on record. Global gold demand in the fourth quarter of 2012 was up 4% to 1,195.9 tonnes.
Central bank buying for 2012 rose by 17% over 2011 to some 534.6 tonnes. As far as central bank gold buying, this was the highest level since 1964. Central bank purchases stood at 145 tonnes in the fourth quarter. That is up 9% from the fourth quarter of 2011, and the eighth consecutive quarter in which central banks were net purchasers of gold.
Read more: Central Banks Buy the Most Gold Since 1964 - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2013/02/14/central-banks-buy-the-most-gold-since-1964/#ixzz2KwJf1BBE
NEW FOREST SUPERVISOR JOHN LAURENCE-by Jan Alexander
The new Forest Supervisor met with Baker County residents on January 28, 2013, and also attended the last EOMA meeting. He spoke of his goals for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, which included safety as his #1 priority. He advocates land stewardship, and is interested in multiple missions, from preservation of wilderness to production of goods and services. He wants the public to be involved in all decisions he makes. John is a botanist by training, and is interested in applying science to forest management. He admitted at the EOMA meeting that he knew little about metal mining. He did relate that he felt that it was better to mine in this country where environmental protection standards are high, than to import metals from other countries where environmental standards are not so high.
At both meetings, people thought that leaving all roads open would help with his #1 priority for safety. Being able to drive into the wild fires, and having miners working with equipment throughout the forest, would make the forest safer. People in both audiences brought up the TMP and told the Supervisor that all roads should remain open, for miners and for all forest users. There were a lot of comments that the Forest Service ignored all the public input into the TMP. Closing roads, for miners and for all forest users, effects our way of life, our livelihood, our happiness and our jobs. John promised more public involvement. He is the fourth Forest Supervisor to tell us this. We will wait and see if this time things are different.
SUCTION DREDGE PERMIT MEETING IN MEDFORD
There is going to be a meeting in the conference room at the Medford branch of the Jackson County Public Library at 205 South Central Ave., Medford, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2013 to learn more about the permit process and how you can participate in the renewal and revision of this permit.
RUSSIA NOW WORLD’S BIGGEST GOLD BUYER
When Vladimir Putin says the U.S. is endangering the global economy by abusing its dollar monopoly, he’s not just talking. He’s betting on it.
Not only has Putin made Russia the world’s largest oil producer, he’s also made it the biggest gold buyer. His central bank has added 570 metric tons of the metal in the past decade, a quarter more than runner-up China, according to IMF data compiled by Bloomberg.
The more gold a country has, the more sovereignty it will have if there’s a cataclysm with the dollar, the euro, the pound or any other reserve currency,” Evgeny Fedorov, a lawmaker for Putin’s United Russia party in the lower house of parliament, said in a telephone interview in Moscow
GOLD PRODUCED IN SEPTEMBER 2012 From the Alaska Miner
U.S. mines produced 20,500 kilograms of gold in September, a slight increase compared with the August productions. For the first 9 months of 2012, domestic gold production was 175,000 kg, which was slightly less than that of the first 9 months of 2011. Nevada produced 76% of the year to date domestic gold production and Alaska produced 11%. (minerals.usgs.gov)
WHY IS FOREIGN GOLD BEING CALLED U.S. GOLD?
An audit of the gold held at the New York Federal Reserve has been completed and the disinformation campaign has started. Here is how LA Times reports the story:
“The U.S. government’s gold in New York is safe in a vault underneath Manhattan, and some of the precious metal there is purer than previously thought.”
The problem with this is that the gold held at the New York Federal Reserve is not \The U.S. government’s gold.\ It is gold held, for the most part, by the Federal Reserve for foreign countries. You can expect more stories about how the Treasury conducted an audit of US gold. However, this is not true. Fort Knox gold, where Americas gold supposedly sits, is off limits to all, and has never been audited.
LA Times also states that:
“according to a first-ever audit conducted last year by the Treasury Department of U.S. gold on deposit at Federal Reserve banks in New York and elsewhere.”
This is curious because it is the government conducting the audit. Thats like having Bernie Madoffs brother auditing Bernies customer accounts. Why wasnt an independent auditing firm brought in? And since the gold is held for countries like Germany, why didnt Germany and others who have gold on account get to pick the auditor?
More can be read about this on: http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/02/get-ready-for-some-major-disinformation.html?spref=fb
Mine Web also had an article about this curious situation: http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-gold-news?oid=178573&sn=Detail
INVEST IN YOUR FUTURE AND SUPPORT EOMA --BUY SILVER MEDALLIONS
We have received the shipment of 2013 medallions. They are the same proof grade quality medallions with gold nuggets that we have been getting in past years. These medallions are currently selling for $50 dollars apiece plus $5.00 shipping and handling and insurance. These prices are subject to change. You can order a 2013 medallion from the EOMA website, or send in $50 plus $5.00 shipping and handling before the price goes up, to EOMA, Medallions, PO Box 932, Baker City, OR 97814, or call Bobbie at 541-523-3285.
WYDEN AND MERKLEY WANT MORE WILDERNESS
Guy Michael just found three new Federal Bills that propose to take thousands of acres of land in Oregon out of production and “protect natural treasures in Oregon, preserve them for use and enjoyment and build upon the economic opportunities they provide for their local communities”. These bills are a rehash and recombination of some of the failed bills that Wyden and Merkley attempted to pass in 2011. You will need to keep these on your radar as well as the stuff coming out of the Oregon State Legislature. The three bills are: Oregon Caves Revitalization Act of 2013; The Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Act of 2013;and Oregon Treasures Act of 2013.
EOMA CALENDARS FOR 2012-2013
We are now offering a new 18 month EOMA Calendar with historical mining pictures. It also has date reminders to help you keep your claim valid. It also has addresses and phone numbers of the agencies you have to deal with. So support the EOMA by ordering your calendar now for the price of $10 each, or three for $29 bucks, plus a dollar for each calendar for shipping. There is an order form in the back of the newsletter. You can also call Chuck Chase at 541-523-3285.
EOMA ADVERTISING AND SALE LISTING
The advertising listings are only $1 per month to get your ad listed below. Send your ad to: EOMA, Box 932, Baker City, OR 97814 along with your remittance for each month you want us to run your ad. The number next to your ad is how many months your ad will run.
FOR SALE WOOD STOVE
Free-standing Franklin Fireplace with heat shield. This has an adapter and two lengths of stove pipe. The price is $100. If interested, call Dot at 541-523-6833 or Alice at 541-446-3439.
FOR SALE (3)
The Gold Spinner System: Save that ultrafine gold with this high gravity separator. It runs on 12volt, only weighs 45 pounds, is easy to set up and run, and can run all day long without a clean up. This is a must see, and sells for only $1304. E-mail Ted at tedcraghead@gmail.com. See Video on UTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAP5CMdIjFs
Or come on down and take a look at 10415 HWY 95, Payette, ID 83661.
CLAIMS FOR SALE (8)
Two claims starting on the Burnt River and running up Clarks Creek. The Gold Danser is an eighty acre claim, with a lot of un-worked placer and good water. The Gold Danser II contains forty acres on Clarks Creek, and has had Geophysical Magnetometer mapping done on it, showing a large buried placer structure running through the claim. Both of these claims are accessed on year round county roads. $35,000 for both. Call: 541-523-3285, or Cell: 541-310-8510.
FOR SALE MINING EQUIPMENT (1)
Retiring from mining, time to sell my equipment. 8” jaw, small rod mill, two impact mills, Panamatic jig, small jig, Humphrey spirals, 2 power plants, lots of motors, one small gas generator, one diesel generator, jack leg, two stopers, steel, railroad track and more. Call Dick Potter at 208-375-2055.
CASE 680CK SERIES C BACKHOE (3)
This backhoe is a workhorse. Good running machine and hydraulics work well. It has an 11/4 yard Front end loader bucket. Cab. Serial #9106582 Priced to sell $8,000. Call Ken Alexander 541 446 3391
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